Where was this lord when his territory was being destroyed, his citizens being eaten?
He was drinking tea in his room, very leisurely, far in the center of the territory further enclosed by a level 3 stone wall with a decent amount of sentries.
The handsome middle-aged man with sharp features looked out the window of his room, overlooking the people running around, trying to fix themselves with odd satisfaction.
He oozed with a mature man's charm. However, his expression was odd. He seemed leisurely and happy as he sat there but… he was looking at a tragic sight.
More accurately, he couldn't see what was happening outside the inner walls, but the screams echoed and the smoke and dust told him chaos had ensued.
Amon Fargo always loved—relished in—this sight: a bit of chaos, a swipe of passion, and a dollop of despair.
Anyway, he knew the Aborigines would be able to handle the monsters, it would just take a while. Hopefully, the population outside would be reduced by a decent amount by then.
His precious territory was already so overpopulated; It was time to reduce it.
His territory was so good, he didn't like how dirty it was becoming with so many poor people running around, begging.
The fortunate thing was that he kept the original wall, improving to level 3 with sentries, keeping the 'bad crop' outside.
Of course, he still built a level 2 wall around the new land, which was already very kind.
As he relaxed in his seat, he made a mental note of the current situation of the territory again.
[TERRITORY STATS
Status: Level 3 Village
Area: 12,566,400 square meters
Residents: 3915 (903 permanent, 3012 temporary)
Total Population: 13824
Base Resources:
Wood: 13300/20000
Stone: 11100/15000
Money: 331 Gold, 45699 Silver, 2098699 copper
Reputation: 108
Buildings: Village Center (Lv2) , Armory (Lv3), Weaponry Shop (Lv3), Defensive Wall (Lv3), Warehouse (Lv2), Restaurant (Lv3), Special Torch (Lv1), Well (Lv2), Barracks (Lv2)
Bonus Building: Custom Building x 1
Building Slots: 9/9 (+1)]
He frowned.
They only lost about a thousand people.
Were those Aborigines so strong?
Amon put the issue aside for a while, admiring his handiwork to determine his starting point in this new world—after the Protection Period.
Overall, from what he gathered from refugees, his territory was undoubtedly the best. Not only were his forces strong, and his wealth ample, but the resources were also better than others.
He had managed to find natural springs and harvest it through a refugee who had arrived. Pity he had already purchased the well some time prior, consuming a building slot, but no matter. With the current population, they needed as much as they could get.
There was also his main advantage over others: Fargo was the first to reach level three among the Terran territories.
As a reward, he obtained the customized building for free, which was just right as he realized that the original custom building option he had pushed aside was no longer available to him. There was also a new custom building available, but it was too expensive and he didn't think he needed it, for now.
In any case, when he was arranging it, he didn't think much except that they could create a less boring and disgusting building type.
When it was being finalized, however, he realized he had underestimated this building.
He—or a Terran architect he managed to collect—was able to mimic basic amenities from Terran, and this was more than enough compared to the trash buildings aborigines called residences.
He built a mansion out of four modules with it. He was also planning on building several communities using the module to sell it for a hundred times the price.
The problem was that the population was saturated and every meter of land was occupied—he had nearly 15,000 people—and those that could not afford a house squeezed together to make those unsightly shanty zones.
Where would he place these custom residences? The poor people took up all the space!
He didn't even have to think much before he decided to make the shanty zones the location of the new exclusive communities. He already had the site development plans on hand and he was getting impatient to implement them.
This was why when the gate was breached, he ordered his guards to stay put for an hour before doing anything, in the name of trapping the monster for the two aborigines to handle.
Anyway, they probably should be able to, and even if they didn't, level 3 sentries could handle level 10 monsters without a problem.
He had hoped that half of the shanty towns be cleared out, but he seemed to have underestimated the aborigines.
Speaking of Aborigines, other than those two, there was still another one.
He put down his cup and turned his head to the young man standing not far away from him.
Only the 'young man' was already in his late 40s.
Amon couldn't help but be fascinated by this world, even if it was just for the extension of life alone. What made it all the more enticing was the beautiful promise of a new type of power.
"Belize," he paused, putting down the cup. "You people are so strong? The population drop had significantly lowered. Perhaps I should've repaired the outer walls a bit later…"
The aborigine seemed a bit surprised, similarly confused. "They shouldn't be…"
The aborigine wasn't very tall compared to the others, but he had a special aura about him despite having an unsightly mouse-like face.
He stood still and straight, like a well-trained butler.
Belize was also the only truly impressive hire he managed to nab—the only elementalist he had ever encountered, who had the element of wind.
"I will go investigate later."
"Hm," Amon said with a shrug. At the very least, it meant Mogi made for a decent guard. This made him quite hopeful, and he hoped to get more good hires.
He needed to find a few more Aborigines to improve his strength. After all, the Protection Period was already finished, and he was bent on stepping above others to reach the top—like he always was.
"You mentioned before…" he turned the spoon around his personalized teacup, something he brought from Terran. "That if I attack a territory, I could obtain at least half of their resources, correct?"
"Yes, milord."
"This resource includes people right? Talents?"
"Yes, milord, you have the option to turn your captures into slaves."
Amon nodded, liking this arrangement very much.
"What kind of territory should I target?"
"Most people choose a weaker territory, but that goes with the risk of wasting one war slot of that month."
"What's your suggestion?"
"The most successful wars are, of course, against stronger ones. Not only are the resources extremely good, but there are also prestige bonuses."
"Your old master did this?"
"Every time."
"Can you tell me more about this?"
"We are aether-bound not to be able to say anything when hired through the system. These things I tell you simply weren't obtained that way."
"You seem to tell me a lot."
"I am very good at choosing masters." He said, smiling mysteriously.
Indeed, his former master was very good. He was so good that he attracted all sorts of talent to him.
It was too bad there was someone better who managed to kick him to the curb, leaving him without a choice but to stay in the villages.
Amon smiled and, to anyone who knew him well saw it, they would think that someone would die a gruesome death. "Well, then… as for the strategies of defeating stronger territories. It should be destroying it from within, yes?"
Belize smirked looking at the sleek man, appearing so clean yet reeking of blood. "As expected of the master I chose to serve."